Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

Drinking Water: A History

By Scott J. Pearson | June 24, 2021June 24, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

Why develop a detailed history about something as ubiquitous as water? Salzman shows why in this well-written inspection of a resource without which humans could not survive. He covers contemporary legal issues as well as (in the revised edition) the 2016 debacle in Flint, Michigan. He discourses about science, economics, human history, and public policy at length. Through adept writing, he makes the mundane and overlooked to become interesting and critical. To the curious reader,…

The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our Song

By Scott J. Pearson | June 24, 2021June 24, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

To the casual observer, it has become obvious that America needs more and deeper racial education and reconciliation. Many of the efforts focus their literature on social topics like being anti-racist. In this book, Gates offers a different take – a history of African-American religion. Religion and social justice understandably intermix in this tale. He provides us with a beautiful, cogent expression of how America got to its present situation. He also offers us hope…

Economics Management-Business Research-Education

Monetizing Innovation

By Scott J. Pearson | June 19, 2021June 19, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

Research and development (known colloquially as R&D) is an inevitability of capitalist markets. New innovations usually outpace yesterday’s technologies. However, many R&D products fail to transition from development to the marketplace. In this work, Ramanujam and Tacke suggest that many of the failures can be avoided by proper management of pricing prior to the start of the project. In truth, this work is an in-depth look at how to set the price of an innovation.…

Science Software-Technology

Programming for Computations – MATLAB/ Octave

By Scott J. Pearson | June 18, 2021June 26, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

Undergraduate scientists and engineers must master complex mathematics to rise to practice their professions. Once they understand the fundamental mathematics, they must learn to calculate the results on their own using a computer and a program like Matlab (or the free version Octave). In this book, these two Norwegian scientists offer a friendly (or, in their words, “gentle”) introduction to this domain. By providing a clear guide, they help ease the burden of learning for…

Science Software-Technology

Scientific Computing: For Scientists & Engineers

By Scott J. Pearson | June 17, 2021June 17, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

This work is misnamed. Its main contents are the mathematical foundations of scientific computing, not scientific computing itself. The actual computer code in Matlab/Octave is sparse throughout the book, with the exception of the last two chapters and the appendix. Again, the main subject is mathematics. This book is suitable for a mid-level undergraduate course in mathematics about how to approach scientific and engineering problems. A short yet comprehensive overview of the field, it provides…

Presentation Software-Technology

Web Style Guide: Foundations of User Experience Design

By Scott J. Pearson | June 15, 2021June 15, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

Not many books on topics related to the Internet are in their fourth edition. Around since the 1990s, Web Style Guide is an exception, and its contents illustrate why. It offers in-depth examinations of various elements of user experience. Much like traditional style guides like the Chicago Manual of Style, this work provides a comprehensive, one-stop treatment of what designers need to know to make use of websites. While being comprehensive, this book profoundly offers…

Healthcare

An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business & How You Can Take It Back

By Scott J. Pearson | June 12, 2021June 12, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

The American healthcare system famously spends more per person than any other system in the world, yet in outcomes, it ranks 37th. In this work, Rosenthal examines why that is the case and what practically can be done about it. Her examination operates both at levels of the patient, healthcare worker, business, insurance agency, and government/public. This book will leave you fuming that too many people are profiteering off of Americans’ health. It will also…

Biography-Memoir Religion-Philosophy

Freeing Jesus: Rediscovering Jesus as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way, and Presence

By Scott J. Pearson | June 12, 2021June 12, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

Theological memoirs (or memoirs in theology) have been “a thing” since St. Augustine of Hippo wrote his autobiographical and masterful Confessions in the fourth century. Butler Bass adds her voice to the mix with her story. In so doing, she hopes to encourage us to rediscover the Christian God and the Christian faith. While acknowledging the limitations of any experience-based, somewhat arbitrary categories, she organizes her work according to six personality traits of Jesus. None…

History Sports

Sprinting Through No Man’s Land

By Scott J. Pearson | June 9, 2021June 9, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

The Tour de France is established each year as an endurance race that lasts for about an entire month and encompasses the entire range of French lands. In 1919, following the armistice ending World War One, the Tour resumed after a multi-year hiatus. It included areas in the northeast that were decimated from warfare. Many of the riders, too, had personally experienced the tumults of war. The French people needed something to boost morale as…

Biography-Memoir History Leadership

Wilson by A. Scott Berg

By Scott J. Pearson | June 1, 2021September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Both Woodrow Wilson and World War I are generally overlooked by American historians because FDR and World War II tends to overshadow them. However, as Berg makes clear, both set the stage for the American century by transforming an isolationist country into the dominant player on the world stage. The son of a Presbyterian minister and a university president, US President Woodrow Wilson led America into this change. Although Congress never accepted his major creation…